By Amos Aar
THE NATIONAL woman leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr Mary Idele Alile, on Saturday launched 774Explode project, an empowerment initiative for women themed, “Enhancing Women Space in Politics” held in Makurdi, Benue State capital, amidst crisis over the position of APC State woman leader.
Addressing the women at IBB Square, Makurdi, Mrs Alile made it known that the Benue State Government was the first to fund the 774Explode program amongst all the APC-led states and commended Governor Alia for his efforts.
Speaking at the event, Benue State Governor, Rev. Fr Hyacinth Alia, a Catholic priest, declared that the APC national woman leader and any other woman who “screams” for his good performance in office were his First Ladies, saying it had become necessary for him to announce his first lady or first ladies owing to pressure on him that as a governor, he was supposed to have a first lady.
Greeting dignitaries during his official address, the governor, after introducing the APC national woman leader, said, “because some people make the mistake that Fr Alia is without a first lady, I almost said Dr Mary Idele Aliaaaa”.
Speaking further, Alia said, “what people don’t understand about Benue State and the governor of Benue State who is a Reverend Father is this; mistakenly, they say he doesn’t have a First Lady. For the record, when all the women of Benue are screaming their heads up because their governor, the Reverend Father, is passing. The reason is very simple. All the great women of Benue State are the first ladies of Benue State. That is why via the leadership of the wife of the deputy governor, everything is working so well”.
The governor made a donation of five hundred thousand naira (N500,000) to each of 23 pioneer beneficiaries of the 774 Explode programme in Benue state, urging them to also choose a skill of their choice so that the government would sponsor them.
Meanwhile, there is a serious tussle over the position of APC woman leader in Benue state. Mrs Nancy Awuese Torhee who was elected the state woman leader but now finds herself in the camp of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume whose relationship with his supposed godson, Governor Alia, has become like that of a cat and dog, accused the APC national woman leader of organizing the event in Benue without her knowledge.
Mrs Torhee had cried out on TVC some hours before the launch of explode774 in Benue state, that Mrs Alile was causing division in the Benue state chapter of the broom party by not recognizing her as the state woman leader, insisting that she was still holding the position until otherwise.
“We have come to lay a protest against the national woman leader who is trying to cause a division in the polity of Benue State APC. Since I have been elected as state woman leader, I have never had any petition against me, I’m still the state woman leader of Benue State”, Mrs Torhee insisted.
National Record observed during the launch of the 774Explode project in Makurdi that, Hon. Mrs Helen Ikpambese, a former chairperson of Kwande local government area was captured in the event brochure as APC state woman leader while Torhee was missing out.
